Mario & Co: Haunted House
by Jordzz
Summary: This fan fiction includes all of your favourite Mario characters trapped in a mysterious, haunted house. One-by-one your favourite characters get killed off... but the killer... is inside! Credit to LuigiMan from the Mario Kart Wii forums! :
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE: THE INVITATION**  
Luigi stepped through the huge double doors with caution. It was freezing inside the mansion, nearly colder than it had been outside. He also realized that this place was decorated with spooky paintings depicting frightening faces and mangled figures being tortured. Gulping loudly, he pressed on and discovered a large dining room with a long table, which for some reason was already set up with plates and silverware.

There was a booming knock coming from the entrance hall, followed by the eerie creaking of the doors being opened. Luigi peeked back at the figure now standing in the doorway, illuminated by the lightning-struck sky. A blood red creature was leering in the hallway, slowly stepping towards the spot where Luigi now stood.  
"Who-who's th-there?" Luigi stuttered. There was no reply. Suddenly, following the swishing sound of a match being lit, a tiny flame revealed a bright blue eye before being held up to a candle on the wall. Luigi was comforted by his brother's soothing face.

"So you got the invitation too, eh?" Mario inquired as he sat down on a cushioned chair in the dining room. Luigi nodded. "I see. I wonder where the other guests are." At that exact moment, they both heard the door crash open in unison with the booming of thunder outside. Mario got up to indentify the new visitor; Luigi stayed put, shivering uncontrollably.

Mario stepped back into the dining room, accompanied by the regal-looking Princess Peach. She propped her parasol up on the side of the table and sat down next to Mario.  
"Where is everyone?"  
"We don't know," Mario replied. "Probably on their way. It's not too long after eight o'clock right now."  
The three guests decided to explore the rest of the house to pass the time until more people arrived. Luigi was reluctant, but ended up chasing after Mario and Peach when they left him sitting in the dining room alone.

After climbing a tall, winding staircase, the trio opened the first door they saw, which turned out to be a large, tiled bathroom containing a claw-footed bathtub and ornately shaped sinks. The second door revealed a master bedroom with a huge window and a king-sized mattress. The room that followed was a second, smaller bedroom containing a slightly smaller bed and smaller window.

They soon went back downstairs to find a large crowd of people waiting in the dining room. Yoshi and Toad immediately ran up to them and greeted them. Wario and Waluigi seemed to be investigating the gory depictions on the walls while Bowser whispered directions to his son, Bowser Junior (Mario seemed skeptical of this at first, but thought nothing of it soon enough). Donkey Kong emerged from a room which Luigi assumed to be the kitchen, for he had a banana in his hand and was peeling it with excitement. Peach spotted Daisy in the crowd and ran off to socialize while Mario disappeared behind Donkey Kong. Luigi heard a knock at the door and went over to find two people at the door: Shy Guy and Diddy Kong. Shy Guy scurried in silently while Diddy screeched and clapped before heading off to find his gorilla friend.

Luigi opened the kitchen door and saw Mario sitting at the counter, heaving large forkfuls of pasta into his mouth. Mario soon realized he was being watched and wiped his mouth with a napkin, then pulled out a chair for his brother to sit in.  
"What's up, bro?"  
"Oh, nothing much, Mario," Luigi replied. "Don't you think this whole thing is a little… oh, I dunno… suspicious?"  
Mario chuckled. "Well, coming from a plumber with history with ghosts like you, I'm not surprised you'd think that."  
"But that invitation we received!" Luigi protested. "Anonymous! We've been sent an anonymous invitation to this creepy old house of horrors where there's not even a host!" He waited for these words to take their effect on Mario before continuing. "Did you see the paintings? Did you see them, Mario? What kind of sicko hangs paintings of torture devices and demonic faces around his house? The same kind who lures fools like us into his slaughterhouse of a home, that's who."  
"This is no slaughterhouse, Luigi. Nothing's even happened yet. Everyone's fine—"  
Just then, a blood curdling scream came from the dining room. Mario and Luigi leapt from their seats and ran out to see what happened, expecting the worst.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: DAISY'S DOWNFALL**  
Mario and Luigi parted the crowd. An angry Daisy was standing near Wario, who was holding one of the creepy portraits.  
"Alright, what happened here?" Mario demanded.  
"Stupid Wario tried to scare me," Daisy responded. "He was using one of those freakish paintings as a mask."  
"I was just having some fun!" Wario pleaded. Grumbling and muttering under their breath, everyone started to walk away from the dining room. Wario, left standing there alone, sighed and tossed the painting onto the floor before heading upstairs.

A few hours later, all of the sleeping arrangements had been made. For there was only room for four people on the beds, ten of them were forced to sleep on the floor, Daisy being one of them.

Daisy was tossing and turning under her uncomfortable blanket. She kept turning over her pillow, and eventually abandoned her sheets altogether. Waking up hot and sweaty, she squinted at the grandfather clock on the opposite wall. It was nearly three in the morning.  
_Ugh, this is terrible, _she thought. She looked over at Mario and Peach, sharing a bed a few feet away. Luigi, Shy Guy, Donkey Kong and Diddy were also on the floor, but all sound asleep. _I just need a glass of water, _she decided as she quietly lifted herself and crept over to the door.

She silently tiptoed down the winding stairs in her yellow nightgown, willing herself not to trip. She eventually found herself at the bottom and made her way to the kitchen.

The first thing she noticed was a half-eaten plate of pasta on the counter. Disregarding Mario's forgetfulness, she approached the sink carefully and filled herself a glass of water, then immediately downed it in one gulp. Setting the glass in the sink, she eyed an object resting behind the faucet that definitely should not have been there: Wario's hat. She lifted it up. Underneath the hat was a dull knife.  
_What the heck are these doing here? _she thought. _Ah, well. I'll interrogate Wario in the morning. _At that, she left the kitchen and entered the dining room. Something else caught her interest, which was the gory painting Wario had scared her with. She shuddered and turned it over so she wouldn't have to look at it. Then it happened.

Daisy was overcome with pain, it felt as if her head was splitting open. She collapsed on the floor. It took every ounce of her effort to turn her head and find that the painting she had just turned over was face-up again. She screamed bloody murder, hoping someone would come downstairs and help her, but it was too late. That painting was the last thing she saw.

Luigi was at the front of the crowd that was heading downstairs in response to Daisy's scream. He skidded to a halt in the dining room and spotted her unconscious body sprawled upon the floor. Tearing up, he tried to find a heartbeat, a pulse--there was nothing. Her skin was ice cold. Luigi crawled over to the painting that lay on the floor, it almost gave the presence of a seemingly innocent child who had just stolen a cookie.

Mario sat next to the body and dug his face into his hands. Bowser, the indifferent one--he appeared almost kind next to the Wario Bros, who loved the excitement of Daisy's death. Luigi gathered himself and ran to the double doors. He had to escape this place, before someone else died. He would never forgive himself if he lost his dear brother, or Princess Peach. He even despised the thought of Bowser's death on his hands. But the doors wouldn't open. They were locked in, there was no way out. There were no windows on this floor. Luigi panicked.  
"There's no way out!" he screamed, his voice cracking. Those not grieving their loss now realized the danger they were in. Luigi counted the people in the room. There was Mario, Peach, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr, Yoshi, Toad, Donkey Kong, Diddy, and himself. Someone was missing, though--but who? Luigi counted again. He still came up short. Could the missing person be behind Daisy's death?


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE: MAGIC WAND**  
The next morning, everyone emerged from their bedrooms with lines under their eyes. It was hard to get any sleep knowing that there was a killer on the loose. Mario tried to remain calm as he stepped into the kitchen and turned on the stove. Luigi and Peach sat at the counter silently, staring at the tiled floor. Wario and Waluigi entered the kitchen.  
"'Ey, what's for breakfast?" asked Wario, scratching the top of his exposed head. Nobody answered. Waluigi nonchalantly opened the cupboard next to the refrigerator.  
"Whoa!" The cupboard was filled with mounds and mounds of cakes, pies, puddings, donuts, pastries, and other delicacies. Wario turned to look and immediately began to drool.  
"Holy..."  
He lunged in front of his brother and reached out for a vanilla frosted cupcake, but pulled back immediately. He tried again, this time slowly extending his arm forward, but when his hand reached the cupboard, it was as if a plate of glass was protecting the treats. Waluigi did the same, with the same results. Mario approached the cupboard and examined it thoughtfully. After a few moments' consideration, he gave up and announced, "I don't get it."

After everyone had eaten, they migrated to the dining room where they conversed casually. Wario stayed behind for further examination of the mysterious cupboard. He noted that it was connected to a larger cupboard directly below it, though he doubted the importance of this detail.  
"Wait a minute..."  
He opened the bottom cupboard and peered inside. The top of it, which also acted as a floor for the cupboard containing the treats, seemed to be attached to the sides with a pair of shafts, inside which the ends of the board were placed. If he were to simply slide the board through the shafts toward himself leaving an opening just large enough for his arm, he could reach up from the bottom cupboard and pull down items from the top. Delighted at his own discovery, he carefully slid the board back and reached up to grab a yummy-looking tart.

A few minutes later, Wario, satisfied, strode to the sink to get a glass of water. While he turned on the faucet, he noticed his own hat behind the sink. It had been missing all day. He picked it up to put it on his head, revealing a strange object: a magic wand. It was a blue rod with a red gem on the end. He picked it up and waved it around. He heard something shatter somewhere in another room. Nervous, he anxiously repeated his cupboard trick and hid the wand behind a box of chocolate muffins.

"What the heck just happened?!" Mario exclaimed as he stepped over the remains of a ceramic vase.  
"This vase just exploded!" Bowser Jr. replied with a large grin on his face. Beads of sweat dripped down Wario's face as he stepped into the dining room with everyone else. Donkey Kong grunted in displeasure as he saw him fake surprise and point his finger at Mario.  
"How could I have done it?" Mario said. "You saw me, I didn't even touch it!"  
"Wario was in the kitchen, he didn't see you," Luigi responded sensibly.  
"What was Wario doing in the kitchen?" Shy Guy inquired monotonously. Wario began to sweat worse than ever.  
"I-I-I was g-getting... getting a glass of water," he stuttered.  
"Thirsty, eh?" Bowser replied, smiling threateningly. "Why so thirsty?" Wario gulped.  
"Alright, alright, this is getting out of hand," said Toad. "Wario didn't do anything, he was in the kitchen. It's impossible. And nobody touched the vase, so it was probably just a freak thing. Bad sculpting or something. Let's just leave it at that."  
Mumbling and grumbling, everyone returned to their activities. Wario entered the kitchen and reached into the cupboard. After peering cautiously at the door, he grabbed the wand and pocketed it.

That night, Peach entered the bathroom with a towel. She hung it on the rack and pulled back the shower curtains, and gave a blood curdling scream at what she saw: a cryptic message engraved on the wall, and a limp body in the bathtub.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR: KILLER  
**The engraving depicted a large letter 'W' next to a drawing of an extremely plump man wielding a knife. The body was not a real body, but rather a straw-stuffed imitation of Mario, with a real blade sticking out of its middle. Everyone had heard Peach's shriek, and gathered in the bathroom to see what happened. Mario consoled the frightened princess while Shy Guy chuckled mysteriously. Wario shouted in horror and cried out for whoever had done this to reveal themselves. Luigi was even paler than usual and soon exited the bathroom to try to open the front door again, to no avail. Waluigi was quiet in the corner, his eyes often darting to the knife impaling the fake Mario.

After a few minutes, everyone started to calm down. Toad noted that two people were missing from the room… Luigi had gone to try and escape again, he knew that. But who else was missing? Not only that, but the Mario dummy… the knife was gone.  
"Oh no…"

Toad ran out of the bathroom and skidded to a halt in the entrance hall. Luigi was twisting the doorknob furiously while a tall shadow lurked from behind a wall. The shadow silently crept toward Luigi and raised its arm. The knife glinted in the grasp of a gloved man.  
"NOOOO! LUIGI! LOOK OUT!" Toad warned him, but it was too late. Waluigi's purple figure was revealed as he plunged the knife into Luigi's chest just as he turned around. His blue eyes were frozen with pain as blood spurted on Waluigi's black overalls. The tall man grinned with demented pleasure. He had defeated his foe at last.

The others had heard Toad screaming and rushed to the entrance hall where they met the scene of Luigi's bloody body crumpling to the floor and Waluigi laughing maniacally with a red knife in his hand. Peach turned white and nearly fainted as tears poured from her eyes. Mario shook with fury.  
"YOU!" Waluigi looked up, his smile slowly fading. "YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! I'LL KILL YOU, WALUIGI! I'LL KILL YOU!" Nobody held Mario back as he rushed, defenseless and unprepared, at the blade-wielding Waluigi. He had only meant to murder Luigi, but as an act of self defense, he held his knife ready as Mario came at him.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE: JUSTICE**  
Mario was quickly approaching him, so Waluigi knew what he had to do. He raised his weapon, and thrust it forward. A pained moan. Blood dripped to the floor. His grip loosened; he dropped his knife. Mario froze in shock. Waluigi looked down at his own chest and laughed. He had been impaled by a large red claw.  
"Heh… hehehe… HAHAHA!" Everyone stared. Waluigi broke down laughing. "HAHAHAHA! HAHA! HEHEHE… HEH…" He quickly faded away. Waluigi gave a final triumphant grin before dying as if to say, _I've served my purpose. _His knees gave away and he fell to the floor. Bowser removed his bloody claw from the body and walked away silently. Mario could not move. He could hardly comprehend what had happened.  
"Three people have died… three people…" He began to tear up.

"Does this mean Waluigi is the killer? The one who murdered Daisy?"  
"Who knows?"  
"Bowser is the killer, he killed Waluigi!"  
"Bowser only killed him because he knows Waluigi is the killer."  
"That makes them both killers!"  
"Bowser was only doing what was right! He put a stop to these murders!"  
Shy Guy, Peach, and Wario looked at Bowser Jr. Nobody spoke for a moment.  
"He's right," Peach said, finally. "If Bowser hadn't killed Waluigi, five more people might have been on death row."  
"I still think it's wrong," Wario replied.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX: DK'S SUSPICION  
**_This makes no sense…why would Waluigi kill Daisy? There is no possible explanation for this…_  
Yoshi pondered the killer's motives as he absentmindedly approached Donkey Kong with a pile of banana peels behind him. He had just begun to peel another when he noticed Yoshi walking toward him. He pondered his own thoughts as he ate silently.  
_Who could it be? Waluigi doesn't seem to make sense… we don't know exactly how Daisy died, though we suspect that it had to do with the painting that was on the floor near her body…Waluigi couldn't have anything to do with that… could he? _Suddenly, his head jerked up as an idea entered his mind. _Bowser. If anyone here has access to magic that can possess something such as a painting, it would be Bowser…of course! But why Daisy? Maybe she was just his guinea pig…_  
He got up to his feet and left the room, on his way to interrogate his new suspect. Yoshi, confused, followed him quietly. Donkey Kong, mumbling something under his breath, shut the door behind him, leaving Yoshi inside the room—if he opened the door, Donkey Kong would know he was following him. He decided to press his ear to the door and listen to what he was saying in the hall outside the room. It sounded as if someone else was crossing paths with him.  
"Watch where you're going!"  
It was Bowser Jr.  
"Bowser… Bowser… Bowser…"  
Jr. heard what DK was mumbling and immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was blaming his father for killing Daisy.  
"Wait a minute… are you thinking that my dad is the killer?" DK didn't bother to respond. "Answer me! The only person my dad killed was Waluigi, and that was for the sake of protecting everyone else! My dad is justice!"  
DK, dumbfounded, stared at the child with a pained expression. Jr. wouldn't understand.  
_Look at the little tyke…I wouldn't put it past him to be working with Bowser in eliminating everyone else…stupid kid._  
Jr. continued to defend his father until DK simply walked away, which finally alerted him that he wouldn't be changing DK's mind anytime soon. Yoshi heard all this, of course, and once he was sure that DK was out of earshot, he sneakily opened the door and crept after him without being noticed by Jr.

"Why would I murder Daisy?" Bowser asked from the kitchen table, forking a whole waffle into his mouth. DK repeated his point, but to no avail. "I killed Waluigi only, because I didn't want Mario dead," he said, showing no signs of lying. DK's suspicions began to wear off. Yoshi continued to watch DK, who was thoroughly convinced that Bowser was the killer. Later that night, he followed DK up into the attic, the reason for which he entered remaining a mystery. Yoshi had followed him all day, and was quite interested by the fact that his previous wanderings took place where the murders of Daisy and Waluigi had happened. He had spent quite a long amount of time at each place, closely inspecting the distance between them and the spots where the bodies had ultimately fallen.

The attic was a gloomy, empty room with one of its walls being completely made of glass. DK looked outside to find that dead trees spotted the land far below.  
_I have calculated that Bowser's next murder will take place here… when I realized that the final resting place of the body would be outside the house's perimeter, I knew that the only way… was this window. _He turned around and faced the opposite wall. A trapdoor in the floor was the only entrance to the attic, and it was located near that wall. Bowser's next victim would have to enter through there. _Once somebody climbs through that door, _he thought, _I will warn them that they are in danger and Bowser's plans will be foiled. I know that there is a pattern in the killings; the only thing that seems random… is the victim._

Just then, the trapdoor began to shuffle about. Somebody was having difficulty in moving it so they could climb up. _This is it, _DK thought, _I will save this person from Bowser's clutches. I… am justice. _Finally, the door was lifted up and pushed to the side. A short figure pulled itself up to the attic and stood up to face DK. DK could not believe his eyes. This could not be the victim, it simply couldn't be. It was Bowser Jr.

DK suddenly realized what was going on. Bowser Jr. was not the next victim. He was.

Yoshi could not see what was happening, but he was hidden behind a wall in the floor below. He had seen both DK and Jr. go up to the attic from his hiding place, but had no way of finding out what they were doing. His only choice was to wait and find out who would come back down alive.

DK turned around and looked at the window, then turned back. Bowser Jr. chuckled merrily and walked dramatically to DK, who could not escape. He knew what was coming. He could not find a way out. It was then that he realized that he truly had the upper hand—Bowser Jr. was a defenseless child, while he was a hulking brute with five times his strength. While he would have preferred to avoid beating up children, his life was on the line.  
"You think my father killed Daisy."  
DK took a swing with his large fist, but Jr. avoided it and continued.  
"You actually expected him to come up here and kill someone ELSE."  
DK began to back up, as Jr. kept walking toward him and wouldn't allow him any space.  
"You know what?"  
DK was forced to press up to the glass wall. Bowser Jr. stopped in his tracks.  
"I'm going to kill you."  
DK roared in fear. Jr. charged at the glass with his shoulder. A large crack appeared. He charged again. The crack spread all over and branched off. He charged again. The window gave away; Donkey Kong fell backwards and barely saved himself by grabbing onto the edge with one hand. The small shards of glass that remained on the frame pierced his skin and blood slowly spread all over his palm. He groaned in pain. Jr. looked down at him disapprovingly. DK ushered all of his remaining strength to utter "Bowser is guilty…" above the pain in his hand. He finally gave in and let go of the glass frame and plummeted down under the night sky. Jr. cackled at the sound of several _flump_s as DK's weak body fell on the tree branches. A loud snap said his spine had been broken. DK was dead. Jr. strode away with pride.

Yoshi had heard. _Oh no…_


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN: GRUDGES  
**What happened that night was between Bowser Jr. and Yoshi until everyone started to realize that Donkey Kong was missing. Unbeknownst to Jr, Yoshi told Mario everything the next morning, and the story soon spread throughout the whole group. Donkey Kong's calculations were partially disproved, but only when Jr. was disconfirmed to be Bowser's accomplice would Bowser's name be cleared, so everyone decided that they should not be too sure about their suspects until Jr.'s fate was revealed.

Diddy was furious. Completely disregarding his own safety, he cornered Jr. after breakfast with the intention of beating up his friend's killer. Hardly a murderous person himself, he wouldn't want to kill Jr, but at least teach him a lesson. The encounter took place in the dining room.  
"Come here, Jr," Diddy said threateningly. Jr. looked over.  
"What do you want?"  
Diddy didn't answer. He ran over and tackled Jr. while he was in his chair, causing the chair to fall onto Jr.'s head and bruise it.  
"OUCH!" He picked up the chair and tossed it aside before punching Diddy in the face. The chimp collapsed and took a moment to regain his strength while Jr. stood over him, tauntingly. Suddenly, Diddy leaped up and kicked Jr. in the face with both feet before landing, then did a spring jump and tackled him again. Jr. struggled to free himself until he located Diddy's tail and bit it with all his might. Diddy yelped in pain and released his victim, which was a mistake—Jr. took advantage of the situation and threw a chair at the whimpering Diddy before jumping onto the large table and backing up, allowing room for a full-fledged battle. Diddy understood and jumped onto the table as well, taking his fighting stance and waiting for Jr. to make the first move. After waiting several moments, he decided to throw the first punch, but Jr. ducked and tripped Diddy, who then fell off the table into an overturned chair. The legs poked his back and he screamed in agony, loudly enough for Toad to hear from the kitchen. Toad entered the room to find Jr. kicking the injured Diddy.  
"Hey! Guys!" Neither one heard Toad's shouts. "GUYS!"  
They looked up for a moment, dismissed him, and continued. Toad took action by jumping into the fray and prying the kids apart for the sake of holding their attention.  
"Stop… fighting…" He mustered all of his strength to push them apart. They seemed to calm down after a moment.  
"Alright, so… what seems to be the pro—" Jr. and Diddy broke out of his hold and clobbered each other, catching Toad in the crossfire. Toad was thrown about while the children punched and kicked and bit.  
"He—killed—Donkey Kong—" Diddy said between attacks. Jr. could not defend himself, but continued to fight. Reluctantly, Toad forced himself to beat the other two into submission so he could break them up, but it seemed to make things worse. Diddy started picking up leftover silverware and jamming it anywhere within reach while Jr. began using all of his force to try to overturn the whole table. Diddy jumped out of the way just as the dining table fell over on top of Toad, who crawled out and found himself showered in chairs and used dishes. The dining room was a complete mess. Unfinished breakfast covered everyone as they thrust their limbs into the other's head. Bowser Jr. met a face-full of soggy cereal as he mashed a blueberry muffin in Diddy's eyes, obstructing his vision. Toad felt something squishy on his large head—he picked it up and realized it was a fried egg. Tossing the food aside, he cautiously made his way in between toppled chairs and broken plates to the main battle. Wiping cold porridge off his face, Toad picked Diddy up by his shirt collar and Jr.'s bandana and pinned their arms to their sides. The commotion ceased; he wiped the muffin out of Diddy's eyes.  
"What—is—going—on?!" he panted. The children were silent. "I don't want you two fighting anymore, it won't do anyone any good."

Diddy's spirits did not raise, but he remembered to keep his temper. The three of them knew that Bowser Jr. deserved punishment, but there could be no stop to his behavior. He was a Koopa family member, and was not only expected, but praised by his father for any evil deeds that he could accomplish. In turn, he was much loved by his father, and this feeling was returned by Jr. This bond was what drove Jr. to commit his crime, and while some believed in Donkey Kong's actions, others knew that Jr. was just protecting his father.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT: CHURCH BELLS  
**Everyone woke the next day and put on happy attitudes to disguise their suspicion. Breakfast was not so much a meal as a test to find out who was against who through overcooked potatoes and someone "accidentally" nudging someone's glass of milk off the table. Peach was keen on having Wario, who had passed her the salt, use the same shaker on his own food before she took any in case he had spiked it with poison. She was satisfied when Wario poured heaps of salt onto his eggs and passed it back to her, proving it was safe. Bowser slept in late and arrived in the kitchen after everyone had already started eating. Toad began to complain that his toast didn't have enough butter and cheerfully asked him to pass him the butter dish. Bowser obeyed.

Shy Guy usually skipped breakfast, this morning for two reasons: one, he would be forced to remove his mask to reach his mouth, and two, he was exceedingly paranoid for reasons that nobody really cared about and did not want to risk anything. He stood in the corner and watched the others eat in silence. Some people avoided asking for drinks of seasonings at all costs; others were careful to find out who their enemies were. Toad, once again, asked Bowser to get him something.  
"Hey Bowser, could you pour me a glass of water?" Bowser got up from his seat, retrieved a glass from the pantry, and poured in tap water from the sink. Toad took it and drank, having watched Bowser's every move and was quite sure that his water was not poisoned. Toad did not see, however, that he had gone out of his way to retrieve a glass from the very back of the pantry that was chipped on the edge. Peach eyed him suspiciously. Did Bowser's glass have some source of poison in its form? Was the chip on the edge a mark of some kind to remind Bowser which glass he had to take?

After breakfast was over, everyone either stationed themselves in the dining room and talked to each other or headed upstairs to the bedrooms to participate in some activity of their choosing. Toad retrieved a book from the bedside table, went back downstairs, and sat at the end of the table, which was completely deserted. He opened his book and began reading aloud to himself quietly.  
"''I've been hearing church bells all day,' he said…'"

Toad appeared to be so engrossed in his story that he kept reading all through dinner. Nobody bothered to make him eat. A few hours later, Mario yawned.  
"I guess I'm gonna go to bed now, everyone," he said, stretching his arms.  
"Yeah, me too," said Shy Guy. Everyone started yawning and stretching on their way upstairs. Toad was left behind, sitting in his chair reading. It was after everyone had hopped in bed that Peach realized he was missing and went back downstairs to see what was taking him so long.  
"Toad, it's… Toad? Toad! What's wrong?" Toad didn't answer. He kept staring at his book without a sound. He never turned the page.  
"Toad… Toad… Toad! Toad! Toad, get up!" Peach became frantic. She nudged his head up to see his eyes closed. She put her ear up against his chest; nothing. No heartbeat.

"I guess I'd better see what's going on down there," said Mario, wondering why Peach wasn't back yet. He got out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs. Peach was in tears.  
"Oh my god… he isn't—"  
"He's dead!" Peach exclaimed, crying. Mario was horrified. More people started shuffling downstairs.  
"Who's dead this time?" said Shy Guy heartlessly as he entered the room. Peach cried even harder. Yoshi was silent with grief.  
"YOU!" Mario yelled dramatically, pointing his finger.  
"Who, me?" Wario said, dumbfounded.  
"Not you, Bowser!"  
Bowser stood behind Wario, gesturing at himself.  
"Me? I didn't do it—"  
"YES YOU DID! YOU POURED TOAD'S WATER!"  
"What the heck are you talking about, so what if I did—"  
"You had to get that SPECIAL GLASS, just for TOAD!"  
"What are you saying, I—"  
"Let's check the glass, guys," said Wario. "It should still be on the counter." Nobody showed any objections.

"Where is it? There must be something in there... look, there's a drip of water left, somebody drink it, test it to see if it's what killed Toad!"  
"Mario, that's horrible," said Shy Guy, unexpectedly. "Just inspect the glass for anything that isn't water. Poison shouldn't be too hard to find, should it?"  
After several minutes of intense inspection, nobody could find anything wrong with the glass. It seemed completely ordinary and un-tampered with.  
"Let's not point anymore fingers until we can find proof against someone," Wario said reasonably. "Even if there's reason to be unsure of someone's… innocence…" Bowser shot him an ugly stare.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE: THE TABLES HAVE TURNED  
**"Jr. is still alive, so I've still got my eye on Bowser," Mario whispered to Peach the next day. "If it's really him, you're probably going to be the last survivor along with his son…"  
"Why?" Peach inquired, her voice shaky.  
"Because," Mario replied. "He's never tried to kill you before. He's going to do what he always does: use you to lure me into his trap and try to kill me. Only this time, he may actually kill me, because he's obviously acquired some new power or knowledge. Daisy's death was no accident."  
"But… but what if it isn't him?"  
"If Bowser isn't the culprit…" Mario said ominously, "…God help us all!"  
"Why are you two whispering?" Shy Guy interrupted, startling Mario and Peach as he walked into the bedroom.  
"We – we were discussing something," Mario said nervously.  
"Hm, I don't know for sure Mario, but I may have been able to deduce that myself," Shy Guy replied sarcastically. "What were you discussing?"  
"We – "  
"Oh yeah, Bowser. Still suspect him?"  
Mario tried to stutter an answer, but couldn't bring himself to say anything out loud with the risk of eavesdroppers.  
"Look, we weren't talking about Bowser, we were just… just –"  
"Just talking about something that is obviously supposed to be only between the two of you. Look, if you two were making some sort of deal…"  
"Shy Guy, please –"  
"No, no, don't worry," Shy Guy closed in and spoke quietly. "…If you guys want drugs, I can totally hook you up, my brother Snifit will –"  
"You thought we were dealing DRUGS?!" Mario exclaimed, almost laughing. "Are you crazy?"  
"Well, I just thought, since you were whispering about something that doesn't involve Bowser and the murders, and now that you're brother's dead… I mean, I'D want it to all go away…"  
Mario and Peach, laughing and shaking their heads, left the room without answering. "Drugs, you gotta be kidding me…"

"Who's there? Who are you?!" Bowser Junior shouted into the darkness. He felt someone grab him by the arms, lift him up, and carry him down a steep, creaking staircase. They were in the basement.  
"Let me go! Let – me – GO!" He bit the mysterious person's arm, causing them to drop him to the cold stone floor. It was pitch black. Junior struggled to feel around the room and find the door; he soon heard it squeak open as the stranger left the room. "NO! Let me out!" The door was quickly shut, so Junior still could not see anywhere. A strange noise began to come from the door; a hefty object was being pushed along the floor in front of it. Junior was barricaded inside the basement. He would be forced to somehow bust the door open, which would surely be impossible with his lack of strength and muscle, or search the room for living necessities. He held his arms in front of him as he blindly scoured the room for any objects that could provide a source of water. He only felt wall. He could not tunnel out, for the floor was made of stone. There were no windows. He would be forced to live off of rats and bugs. Perhaps it would be better to just sit there and die of thirst and starvation.  
"If only I could at least figure out who the killer is, or I'll die wondering…" He recalled the texture in his mouth from biting their arm, the distance he fell when he was dropped. He knew about how tall the person was… what their arm was like…  
"Could… could it be?"

"SOMEONE! HEY! LISTEN!" He had located the door and hammered on it with his fists as he shouted, hoping someone nearby would hear him. "I KNOW WHO THE KILLER IS! IT'S –"  
"Do you hear something?" Said Wario, scratching his head. Diddy shrugged.  
"Where's Bowser Junior?" Asked Diddy. "I dunno. Anyway, as long as Diddy is alive, Bowser is my top suspect, personally. But nobody would kill their own son. If anything happens to the kid, it's… well, I won't say." Wario left the room, leaving a confused Diddy.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN: SUSPECTS  
**"I can't find Junior anywhere," Bowser announced frantically. "He's disappeared completely!"  
"Yeah, I haven't seen him since yesterday morning," Diddy replied. "I wonder where he could have gone."  
Everyone was silent. Diddy could feel everyone's piercing stares.  
"What?"  
"Oh, nothing," Wario said with sarcastic nonchalance. "It's just that you sort of brawled with him in the dining room the other day."  
"You've probably already stashed the body in the cellar," Shy Guy said bluntly.  
Diddy began to sweat heavily. "I didn't kill Junior, guys! I didn't kill him then, I won't have killed him now!"  
"That's what they all say," said Shy Guy. "You probably killed Daisy, too. You killed them all. You're a murderer."  
Diddy was hot with fury. He curled his hands into fists and lunged at Shy Guy; he was held back by Yoshi.  
"You don't know what you're saying," he muttered as he walked away from a chuckling Shy Guy.

Later, Mario and Peach met up again, this time in the bathroom with the door locked to prevent interruptions.  
"Things have changed," said Mario. "Diddy is most likely the killer."  
"Just to be sure, let's make a list of suspects," Peach reasoned. Mario agreed.  
"So, let's see. Diddy is probably the killer, but then there's Shy Guy." Peach nodded. "He is very quick to blame Diddy and make him seem suspicious. This could be to cover up the fact that HE is actually the killer. I'm not sure how he may have killed Daisy, or how anyone killed Daisy for that matter, but he just stood there in the corner in the morning on the day Toad died. He could have somehow spiked his food with poison without being seen, although I'm not sure how he did it without direct contact. Either way, I suspect him. Killing Bowser Junior may have been an act to pin the blame on Diddy. He may have even put the body in the cellar, like he said – to make it seem so obvious it can't possibly be true.  
"Wario could have done it, too. That day the vase exploded, his behavior was pretty fishy. Although I don't know how he killed Toad. And he could have killed Junior as easily as anyone else.  
"And although I hate to say it, Yoshi seems pretty sketchy as well. He told me about how Donkey Kong died, and I'm not sure how he knew. He could have done it himself and blamed Junior for the act. He hasn't made himself very noticeable since…"  
"What about Bowser?" asked Peach.  
"Bowser is still a suspect, though we needn't be too careful about him. He wouldn't have the heart to kill his own son."  
They opened the door to find Diddy and Shy Guy arguing.  
"It wasn't me!" Diddy exclaimed. "I didn't kill anyone! I never would!"  
"You wanted revenge, and you went too far. Justice must be brought to this forsaken place!"  
"Diddy," Wario interrupted, "We all know it's you. You can't deny it. The timing is too convenient!"  
"Exactly!" Shy Guy agreed.  
"No way! I wouldn't hurt a fly! Never! Junior's death was either an accident, or he was killed by one of you!"  
"Who ever said Junior was dead?" Bowser interjected. All eyes were on the sweating Diddy.  
"I – I never – I just assumed –"  
"GUILTY!" Wario yelled in unison with a loud crack from outside, signifying the beginning of a lightning storm. Rain pounded against the roof almost immediately.

"SOMEBODY! I KNOW WHO DID IT! I CAN TELL YOU!" Junior yelled from the cellar. He had yelled out the killer's name nonstop all through the night and into the day. "Please… just let me out, I can reveal it to everyone…" he continued to be unheard. "Please…"


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: EXPOSED  
**Diddy's eye began to twitch. Deep, uncharacteristic giggles emanated from him. Wario backed away slowly.  
"Diddy… what's going on?"  
"AAAHHH!" Diddy shrieked as he ran across the room and grabbed onto what little neck Wario had.  
"GACK! What – are –you DOING?!"  
Nobody moved; they were fixated on Diddy's hands throttling Wario with fury. He was unable to control himself. Wario screamed for help; nobody did anything.  
"WHAT IS – GACK – WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU?! GACK – GET HIM OFF OF ME!"  
The killer was exposed. He could not contain his anger.  
"I… I knew…" Mario said quietly, hardly daring to blink as the victim lost his life. Wario struggled to utter his last words.  
"J… Jun… Junior…"  
Bowser gasped and leaned in closer.  
"He's… he's…"  
Wario collapsed, dead. Diddy had strangled him. The killer looked over his shoulder guiltily, his hands still gripping his victim's neck. He suddenly became aware of what he had done. He looked at the body, horrified.

Junior had heard. He gasped; someone HAD heard his calls… Wario knew he was alive! He thumped against the door, yelling and screaming.  
"SOMEONE! SOMEONE!" Please… I can't survive in here much longer! Please…"

"I knew it was you all along," said Mario, stepping toward Diddy bravely. "You are the killer. You've revealed yourself."  
"But – no! NO!" Diddy screamed, almost in tears. "I'm not the killer!"  
"LIAR!" Mario yelled. "YOU JUST KILLED WARIO! WE ALL SAW!"  
"But… but…" Diddy broke down crying. "But I didn't mean to!"  
Shy Guy scoffed. "Yeah, right. You're not saying you thought we wouldn't see you choking Wario?"  
"You're guilty," said Mario. "You've exposed yourself."  
Diddy sniffed. "But… but…" he struggled to speak, his lip quivering. "Please, I didn't mean to! You have to believe me!"  
"You don't understand," said Mario, approaching the killer. "you KILLED someone in front of us."  
"But –"  
"NO!" Mario was fed up. "Everything makes perfect sense! You killed Toad after he broke up your fight with Junior because he stopped you from accomplishing your goal: to kill Junior, as revenge for killing Donkey Kong!" Diddy could think of no response. "With Toad out of the way, you killed Junior and hid the body! You murdered Wario, too, because he knew that you were behind it all! It fits!"  
Diddy, in a fit of fear, grabbed onto Mario's leg and sobbed into it. "I didn't mean to! I swear!"  
"Don't lie to me," said Mario. You are the killer. It doesn't matter if you won't admit it." Diddy cried even harder.

Later, Mario gathered everyone but Diddy and they all went inside the bedroom.  
"Alright, so," Shy guy began, "how are we going to punish him?"  
"There is only one punishment for murder," Bowser replied. "Death."  
Peach and Yoshi were silent.  
"Unfortunately, I can think of nothing else that is severe enough. He killed four people already. If he is kept alive, we are all in danger!"  
"But how will we do it?" asked Shy Guy. "Poison?"  
"Indeed, poison would be the most humane way," said Bowser. "He must die, but there is no reason to make him suffer. No need to stoop to his level."  
"He killed your son, Bowser," replied Mario. "But I agree. It will be a peaceful death."

"You're going to punish me," Diddy said solemnly. "What are you going to do?" Nobody answered. A silent tear trickled down his face. Silence only meant one thing: they were going to put him to rest. His end was approaching. There was no longer any point in begging for mercy; he knew what he had done.  
"I've committed murder… I've committed murder…"


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE: SAFETY  
**"Eat your potatoes, Diddy, they're getting cold," said Mario as everyone ate dinner silently. Diddy didn't have an appetite.  
"You're going to punish me," he said. "You're going to kill me for what I did…"  
"I'm going to be honest, Diddy. It's better for one more person to die than six more. This is a sacrifice for the greater good."  
Tears trickled down Diddy's face. He knew this was what he deserved. He scooped a bite of potato and ate it.

Everyone seemed unusually sincere to him as Diddy went to bed that night.  
"Goodbye, Diddy," said Peach, waving as she stood in the hall solemnly. Mario hugged him before bidding him goodnight. Even Bowser said goodnight, which was a rarity.  
"See you in hell, Diddy," Shy guy said bluntly. Fortunately, Diddy did not hear this last comment, for he was already headed upstairs. The others stayed behind to talk.  
"This is it," said Peach. "We've done it."  
"What a relief," said Shy Guy. "The killer's done for! We can finally live in peace!"  
"I feel sort of guilty," replied Mario. "He really seemed genuinely sorry…"  
"We can't feel sorry for a mass murderer," said Bowser. "Let's go see how he's doing."

Diddy was already asleep. The group huddled around him lying on the bed. They could tell he was still alive; his chest was heaving in and out as he breathed slowly. Suddenly, his breathing paused. There was a sharp intake of breath among the group. A moment passed – Diddy's breathing returned to normal. Everyone sighed.  
"This is boring," said Shy Guy.  
"Then leave," said Mario. "It's not like anyone is going to die, or anything."  
"Waiting for someone to stop breathing isn't worth watching, in my opinion" Shy Guy responded.  
"Then why did you come up to watch?!" Mario asked.  
"Guys –" Peach said, but Bowser interrupted.  
"I think you should both shut up," he said.  
"I'm leaving," Shy Guy said.  
"Then GO!" Bowser exclaimed.  
"Guys, he –" Peach began, but she couldn't finish.  
"If you're just going to complain – "  
"Don't bother, Mario, there's no point," said Bowser.  
"No, I'm just going to go now," said Shy Guy.  
"GUYS!" yelled Peach, finally getting their attention. "Diddy's breathing is slowing down!"  
They all crowded around again and resumed the show. Diddy's pace was quickly decreasing until finally, he simply stopped. His body sat motionless like a puppet whose strings had been cut.  
"He's dead," said Bowser. Yoshi sighed.  
"Well, now we can be sure that nobody else will die," said Mario. "We're finally safe."  
"Yeah, well, except for one thing," said Shy Guy.  
"What's that?"  
"We can't get out of the house, and we're stuck with a limited food supply. Once it's all gone, we won't have much more than a week to live. We have to eat sparingly or die of starvation."

Yoshi checked the cupboards. Mario checked the refrigerator. Their current supply would last them a little over a month.  
"Well, this is a problem," said Bowser. "Shy Guy was right. We're all going to die."  
"If you want to die quick and easy instead, I can help you out," called Shy Guy from the dining room.  
"Very funny," replied Mario.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A SECRET**

While everyone else slept, Peach cried all through the night. This whole thing was too much for her. She would never be the same; she was traumatized. _It would be better, _she thought, _to end it sooner rather than later if starvation is my fate. I don't want my life to end that way._  
Shy Guy heard her sobbing and entered the room stealthily. Peach stopped crying.  
"What do you want?"  
"What seems to be the problem?"  
Peach sniffed. "Oh nothing… except that I'm going to die a horrible, unpleasant death."  
"That's not much to worry about."  
There was silence for a few moments.  
"This is great, just great…" said Peach after a while. "Everyone dying all around us… what if Diddy WASN'T the killer? We may all be in danger!"  
"Diddy WAS the killer. There is nobody else who fits."  
"Well, either way, there is no way I'm starving."  
"You don't mean…?"  
Peach got out of bed and left the room as she spoke.  
"I'm ending it fast and painlessly."

She arrived in the kitchen, followed by Shy Guy. She found a notepad and began scribbling something down. Shy Guy could see some of it.

Dear Mario,  
I can't let life end this way. I do not wish for the inevitable pain that is soon to come. Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. Words cannot describe my gratitude for you. My only choice is to

"So how are you going to do it?" asked Shy Guy.  
"I don't know," she replied. "If I can find any pills in this place, I'm taking them, though."  
"No need for that," said Shy Guy. "There's an easier way. I'll help you."  
Peach paused a minute before speaking. "Why should I trust you?"  
"I have a secret that I've never spoken to anyone before," he said. "And it has to do with why I wear this mask. Listen closely…" he spoke his next words in a whisper.  
"I am the embodiment of death."

Peach froze. If this wasn't a confession, she didn't know what was.  
"Doesn't that mean, you're… you're…"  
"No, I am not the killer. I have never killed anyone in my life. Let me explain.  
"In ancient times, Shy Guys were not known as Shy Guys, but Gods of Death – Shini gami, if you will. We worked in the Underworld, harvesting souls in the simplest manner possible: tracking down our victim, and making eye contact with them. Any soul who looked at our face would die instantly. The departed soul would either go up to Heaven, or join our ranks and begin an infinite existence of collecting souls.  
"Excuse me," Peach interrupted. "But what about people who are… murdered? Where do they go?"  
"Souls who are taken by one other than a God of Death are plunged into nothingness; they no longer exist. Such is the worst fate of all.  
"Anyway, at that time, Gods of Death typically reaped souls after about thirty to forty years of life. But at some point in time, we started getting lazy. We waited for them to become fifty to sixty, and even seventy to eighty years old. The King of Death wouldn't have it, so he started sending the lazy Shini gami to earth to live a mortal life with the rest of the folks, only to be sent into nothingness when we die. I was one of the Gods of Death who was sent to earth when I didn't kill anyone at the age of thirty to forty. I retained my killing powers, however, and I contain them by wearing a mask at all times, as do all other Gods of Death who suffer my fate."  
"So… if you were to take off your mask while I was looking at you… I would die?"  
"Correct."

"When you're ready, Peach."  
She cleared her throat and breathed deeply, tears welling in her eyes. "Goodbye, Shy Guy."  
"Goodbye, Peach. It's been… fun."  
He slowly began to remove his mask.  
"WAIT!"  
He paused. "What is it?"  
"Am I going to be frightened when I see it?"  
"I don't know. I've never seen a Shini gami face before, or I would be dead. Do you still want to do it?"  
"Yes."  
Shy Guy resumed taking off his mask. As he held it in hand and brought it down from in front of his face, as his hood fell back, Peach turned pale and her eyes widened; her mouth open in a silent scream. She collapsed; Shy Guy caught her as he slid the mask back onto his face. Peach still wore her expression of frozen horror.

Shy Guy took Peach back up to the bedroom and on her bed next to Mario. He tapped him on the shoulder. Mario slowly opened one eye.  
"Wuh… wum… what? Who is it?"  
"It's me. I didn't want you to freak out in the morning, so I'm going to tell you now."  
Shy Guy explained what had happened, showing Mario the suicide note Peach had scrawled down earlier. In its entirety, it read:

Dear Mario,  
I can't let life end this way. I do not wish for the inevitable pain that is soon to come. Thank you so much for everything that you have done for me. Words cannot describe my gratitude for you. My only choice is to end it all now, before the worst part comes. I'm counting on you to keep everything together from now on. Be a leader. Be a fighter. God bless you, Mario. I love you.

Princess Peach Toadstool

"Thank you, Shy Guy. She is at peace now."  
"It's my duty, Mario."  
"Goodnight."


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: REPETITION  
**The following morning was a gloomy one. The loss of Princess Peach and the ominous knowledge of their inevitable demise at the hands of starvation were dark clouds that loomed over the remaining guests at all times. Yoshi, seeking privacy, went down some creaking stairs and sat on a crate, head in his hands. Suddenly, Peach's calming voice echoed in his head.  
"Chin up, Yoshi," Peach seemed to say. "Don't give up hope just because things look bleak. The future is bright!"  
Reminded that one of his closest companions was now gone, Yoshi became even sadder, but decided to follow her advice. He sat up straight and started to stand up when he felt something jutting out of the wall behind him jab his back. He looked; it was a doorknob. The crate he sat on was in front of a chipped wooden door. Heaving the crate aside, he turned the knob and opened the door to reveal a pitch black room. It might have been a solid wall painted black and he wouldn't have been able to tell, but he disregarded the danger and remembered to be optimistic. Keeping the door open for what little light it poured into the dark room, he immediately tripped and tumbled down a few extra stairs. He lifted himself off the cold stone floor, but paused for a moment – he felt something unusual on the floor. He felt around. There it was: something fleshy – he moved his hand forward – a hard surface, like some sort of shell.

Yoshi screamed.

An obscured silhouette stood in the door frame. Yoshi strained his eyes to see who it was; then he came to his senses. The killer.  
He made a run for the door, but it was too late – the silhouette slammed it shut and slid the heavy crate back into place. Yoshi was trapped to suffer the same fate as Bowser Junior. More depressed than ever, he flopped onto the floor next to Junior.  
"OUCH!" He had landed on something sharp – he picked it up to find that it was a pointed rock. _Maybe I could use this for something, _he thought. Then it hit him. He groped around the entire floor, searching for a flat rock. Nothing. He searched Junior's form, and there it was, resting in his hand. Junior had already started:

HEL

He quickly began to carve the last letter onto the rock. Once he formed the word 'help', he would slide the rock under the door and pray for someone to find it and rescue him. There was only one flaw: if the killer found the note first, he would surely get rid of it so nobody would know of Yoshi's location. _Maybe I'll get lucky, _he thought. He carved furiously. The sooner, the better.

Yoshi didn't know how much time had past, but he guessed that it had been several hours since he had gotten trapped in the cellar as he admired his completed carving. He could not see it, but by feeling the engraving, he could tell that he had made a fairly distinguishable 'P'. He blindly made his way to the door and slid the rock under. Peering through the crack to see if it was in plain sight, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

An eye was staring right back at him.

A chuckle from the other side of the door, followed by the person grabbing the rock and concealing it inside their fist, sealed Yoshi's fate. He was doomed. Junior had died in this cellar, and so would he. Junior had failed to find an escape, and so would he.


	15. Chapter 15 & 16

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: ETERNAL VOID**  
"It's just as I feared," said Mario. "Yoshi is gone. The killer may still be alive…" He, Shy Guy and Bowser wore intense, worried expressions. One of them was guilty.  
"Have you ever considered the possibility," said Shy Guy, "that the killer is not one of us, and the murders are coming from someone who was here before any of us? Someone, perhaps, who invited us here with the intention of killing each and every one of us?"  
"No," said Bowser. "And I don't plan on thinking on those grounds at this point. I'm sticking with the original theory."  
"I agree," Mario replied. "It's too late to change everything like that. You may be right, Shy Guy, but a killer whose location and identity are completely unknown… I can't deal with that. I don't want to. It has to be one of us."  
"In that case," said Shy Guy, "we must take the necessary precautions."  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"I don't know. Got any ideas?"

_Chink! Chink!_  
Three pairs of handcuffs restrained the three men, now bonded together constantly. They sat in a circle around a glass coffee table in the living room, eyeing each other suspiciously. The killer was among them, and through this method, they would either find the culprit or do nothing until they all died. Nobody wanted either to happen.  
"I'm hungry," said Shy Guy.  
"I guess we're eating," Bowser replied irritably.

They clumsily ambled into the kitchen in a circle like a group of sky divers. Taking their chances, Bowser and Mario allowed Shy Guy free from his handcuffs until he could get food and silverware. They quietly watched him slurp large forkfuls of spaghetti under his mask. By now they no longer cared how he ate; in fact, they were rather disgusted. By the time the meal was over, Shy Guy's mask was covered in tomato sauce, which he messily smeared off with a napkin before belching loudly. They hastily snapped him back into his bonds and then went back to the living room.

It was several hours before anyone spoke.  
"Wanna play checkers or something?" Bowser asked sarcastically.  
"NO!" Shy Guy exclaimed. This unexpected outburst caused the other two to stare at him for several seconds before he spoke again.  
"Sorry," he said. "I just get really moody when I'm bored. I've never sat down doing nothing for so long."  
Nobody replied. Shy Guy began to tap his feet on the floor. Mario sighed.  
"I gotta use the bathroom," Shy Guy said after a while. Bowser and Mario groaned.

They freed Shy Guy for the second time and stood outside the door silently. Several minutes passed.  
"What is taking him so long?!" Bowser complained. Mario knocked on the door.  
"What are you doing in there?"  
"What do you think I'm doing?" Shy Guy called back.  
"Wasting time is what you're doing," Bowser replied. Shy Guy was silent.  
"Well, hurry up in there," Mario said loudly, leaning against the door.

Time snailed by. Some time later, Bowser, almost asleep and sitting uncomfortably against the bathroom door, asked Mario the time. Mario opened his eyes and checked the clock on the wall.  
"Quarter to five," he said.  
"He has been in there for half an hour," Bowser moaned. "This is ridiculous. Let's go in there."  
"No way, we have to respect his privacy! What if he's the killer?"  
"I don't care, this is stupid." Bowser slowly got to his feet, bringing Mario with him, and rammed against the door with his shoulder. It burst open with ease, nearly causing Bowser to fall over. Mario gasped.

Shy Guy was not on the toilet. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen. Mario looked down at the floor to find his robes, shoes and mask lying in front of the sink.  
"He took his clothes off?" Bowser said.  
"Bowser, I… I think he's dead!"  
Large, red letters decorated the wall opposite them:

PLUNGED INTO THE ETERNAL VOID

Neither of them knew what this was supposed to mean.  
"Why does he say that? And where is his body, if he's dead? Bodies don't just disappear like that."  
"Who knows," said Mario. "Shy Guy isn't human or any other commonly found race, if you ask me. Death might be different for him."  
Depressed, the two of them tossed the extra cuffs aside and made their way back to the living room, bonded until confession or confirmation. _Shy Guy may have been the killer, _Mario thought. _I guess we'll find out sooner or later…_

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: SHOWDOWN  
**Mario and Bowser, bitter rivals, stared at each other intensely over the coffee table. They would not leave each other's sight.  
"This has been fun, Bowser."  
"Indeed it has," he growled.  
"Bowser?"  
"Yes?"  
"I've been wanting to tell you something for a long time now, and now that either one of us may be in our last moments… I think now is the time to tell you."  
"I'm listening."  
Mario leaned over the table with a serious expression. Bowser's grin grew wider.  
"Bowser… you're not so bad, now that I've gotten to know you."  
Bowser's grin faded. "What… what do you mean?"  
"I misunderstood you all those years. I thought you were a terrible monster with no heart, but… you're just like any human, no matter what you look like. I'm sorry."  
His grin reappeared. "Thank you, Mario."  
"Don't mention it."

"Mario…"  
"Yes?"  
"I have a secret, too…" Bowser leaned closer and whispered to Mario's ear:  
"_I'm the killer._"

It seemed like several hours went by before anybody spoke.  
"I'm impressed, Bowser."  
"Thank you, Mario."  
"How did you do it all?"  
Bowser's grin became wider than ever. "It wasn't easy, Mario. It began one night when I was in my castle, plotting.

"I knew that capturing the princess again was a no-go. You always saw right through me when I did that before. So, I formulated a plan. I would hire my Koopa workers to build a mansion in secret and decorate it in a way that would hide who its owner was, then I would invite you to it where you wouldn't be found. They finished it in record time, and I was pleased. But, I thought, I guess I have to invite that Luigi, too, because he was also a threat to my plans. I was hit with an idea! Why not invite _every _well-known Mushroom Kingdom resident? The chances of anyone suspecting me were slim, especially if I were to go too.  
"It worked perfectly. Everyone showed up. I would be able to kill each and every person one by one, until I was the only one left and I was free to rule the kingdom. I came prepared, of course. I brought with me –" he held up a blue rod with a red gem on the end "—a magic wand, capable of bending reality in a way that was under my control. It was easy to use and easy to hide. I tested its powers by possessing one of the paintings on the walls to follow my exact commands at my time of choice. It worked! The painting killed Daisy, and without leaving a mess. Beforehand, however, I played a special trick involving the knife that killed your brother. I had hidden it under Wario's hat in the kitchen, so that Wario may search for his hat and discover the knife, make the connection, and use it to murder whomever he pleased, namely you. I also tested Wario's cleverness and persistence by filling the cupboard in the kitchen with treats and blocking them with a forcefield with the use of the wand. But Shy Guy, whom I had secretly given the wand without his knowledge in order to pin the blame on him, switched the knife with the wand before Wario found his hat. Shy Guy then created the Mario dummy and completed his scene in the bathroom involving a puppet of your likeness and an engraving on the wall; meanwhile, everyone else was mourning Daisy downstairs. When the puppet was discovered, Waluigi stole the knife in its body and violently murdered Luigi. This was not at all part of my plan, but I was pleased nevertheless. Waluigi's next target was you, but in order to gain your praise and lower suspicion of myself, I stopped you from being killed.  
"The murder of Donkey Kong wasn't part of my plan either, but it was very helpful indeed for my son to murder him at that time. He was onto me; he had me figured out. Junior, out of spite, got rid of my main threat and cleared my path to victory. This lead to a rivalry between Diddy Kong and Junior. Later, I killed Toad at breakfast in order to raise suspicion of Diddy Kong being the killer. However, I had a plan. I deliberately made my careful choice of glass while serving Toad a drink quite viewable by everyone else. The glass choosing distracted them from what really killed Toad: the butter on his toast. I had poisoned the butter but made it look like I had poisoned the water. I was now a prime suspect, though, even when I had proved the glass and myself innocent. For this reason, I locked my own son in the cellar with the full intention of saving him the moment my name was clear. I didn't think ahead, though – it was already too late when I realized that Junior coming back to life all of a sudden would make me even more suspicious than I was before. I was forced to keep him in the cellar until I had devised a plan to get him back out without the knowledge of the others. I never completed the plan; it was impossible.


End file.
